.The 2012 election result upset many AFP
readers and pleased others. An eclectic
group whose views are not as predictable
as both AFP’s friends and critics might
presume, AFP readers had a mixed — and quite nuanced —
view of the Obama-Romney contest.Obama — a liberal — was, naturally, never popular
with many AFP readers who are generally “conservative.”
Concern that Obama was foreign born — and thus his presidency defied the Constitution —
was foremost in many minds.Those, however,were not the concerns of the average
voters, who are not as well-informed as AFP
readers. Despite what the major media might suggest,
the election was not really an endorsement of
Obama but more a rejection of Romney. The truth is that Romney — a classic “Rockefeller
Republican” who tried to sound “conservative” —
failed to rally enough white working middle-class
voters to his cause in order to prevail over the lopsided
minority vote that favored Obama and gave
him both the popular and electoral vote edge. Many middle class white voters were repulsed
that Romney made a fortune through what Rick
Perry — the conservative Christian GOP governor
of Texas — correctly described as “vulture capitalism,”
referring to Romney’s “outsourcing” of American
workers’ jobs abroad. Americans like good,
solid business success stories, but they reject
predatory plutocrats who harm American workers.
And that’s how many voters perceived Romney. In addition, after two foolish no-win Middle East
wars (orchestrated by the last GOP president) that
have bankrupted the United States, many voters —
who think America should look out for America
first — repudiated Romney as a bellicose internationalist
eager to engage in war against Iran.Despite the rhetoric, there was little difference
between Obama and Romney, even on “social” issues
where — theoretically — they parted company.
For example, even as pro-life Christians rallied for
Romney, his surrogate, ex-Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.),
assured Jewish voters Romney would do
nothing to overturn legalized abortion.Had the GOP abandoned the standard “me too”
game that the Republicans play every four years
and nominated a candidate who could have offered
middle class voters a real choice — namely
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas)—Obama would be getting
ready to leave the White House on January 20.Fed up with the GOP’s antics, many Republicans —
and AFP readers — chose not to vote, or
they voted for “third” party candidates such as the
Third Position’s Merlin Miller, Libertarian Gary
Johnson, the Constitution Party’s Virgil Goode or
Green Party nominee Jill Stein — among others. AFP encourages efforts challenging the two party
monopoly, angering some readers who view
any GOP candidate as superior to any Democrat.
Other AFP readers reject the process and believe
every election is “fixed” through computerized
vote fraud. Many of those cynics hope for a Second
American Revolution — and they may be the
most realistic reformers of them all.